The invention relates to a spray powder, a copper-containing surface layer produced with the spray powder, in particular a surface layer on a bearing part of a bearing apparatus, and also a method for the application of such a surface layer.
Bearing apparatus of all kinds, for example sliding bearings and rolling element bearings, account for the majority of bearings used in technology. In the following the term bearing or bearing apparatus is used for all bearing parts defining the function of the bearing which cooperate in supporting contact, for example bearing parts rolling on each other, or sliding on each other or supported in each other.
As a rule signs of wear are associated with the friction arising on the bearing running surfaces cooperating in supporting contact, particularly at the bearing running surfaces. In order that these signs of wear do not necessitate a change of the complete bearing apparatus, bearing shells are used—among other things—in sliding bearings, which can be exchanged depending on their degree of wear. However this complicates the construction of the sliding bearing considerably and moreover an expensive service procedure is necessary to change the bearing shells.
Sliding bearings, in particular split sliding bearings with bearing shells, are often used for the bearings of shafts. The combined bearing is also sometimes used in sliding and rolling element bearings. As a rule the shafts are forged out of forged steels or cast iron with spherical graphite, and the counter parts are forged out of heat-treatable steel or sintered materials or are sometimes also manufactured from malleable cast iron. The bearing shells are mostly realized as so-called two-layer or three-layer bearings. The manufacture of bearing shells of this kind is relatively expensive however. With long running lifetimes of the engine the bearing shells wear out to such an extent that the replacement of the bearing shells ultimately becomes necessary, with the replacement of the bearing shells in engines such as these being associated with high costs, as has already been mentioned.
However in other kinds of bearings, in ball bearings for example, the premature wear of the bearing parts, for example the balls of the ball bearings, an axle to be journalled by the ball bearing, a cage for the balls of the ball bearing, or other bearing parts of the ball bearing, is a basic problem which involves considerable expenditure for repairs and servicing and is ultimately associated with considerable costs.